SEVEN

Just after Joaquin was released from the hospital two days later, he and Beatrix briskly stroll down the sidewalk to Kings Cross Station. It was the day Joaquin had come to secretly dread, the day Beatrix Isherwood returned to Edinburgh.

The Case of the Daughters had been officially closed the afternoon prior to this one.

Robert has taken it upon himself to do just as Ambrose had requested and be the guardian of his wife. The old Chief of Inspection has been reinstated and acquitted of all the false crimes for which he was charged.

Now all that was left to do was return Detective Isherwood safely to her home.

They stand upon the platform as others board for Edinburgh. The two of them come to the full extent of their realization that they would truly miss the other.

“Beatrix, I—“

She stops him immediately with a bear hug, careful to be gentle with his sling-clad arm.

This was the first hug he had received and reciprocated in five years since the hug of his little sister.

Joaquin was sure to take in the sugary scent of her scarf as he sets down her bag and wraps his good arm around her.

“When are you coming again?”

She shakes her head sadly as she pulls away, “I don’t know, that is up to my Chief.”

Joaquin rubs the back of his neck, “Then… you will write to me? Or phone me once in a while?”

She grabs his hand firmly, “I will if you will.”

The train whistle blows shrilly and Beatrix clambers for her bags. She runs onto the train just as it is beginning to pull away. Joaquin watches a window fling open and Beatrix’s head pop out. She waves vigorously to him, “Goodbye, Joaquin!”

And then, a marvel of all marvels, she blows him a kiss.

As he loses sight of her down the tunnel, Joaquin blushes, for he is sure that the sweet, warm breeze that seems to sweep in from nowhere, is the kiss of Beatrix Isherwood.

The End

Joaquin and Beatrix will return in “Plunge”